CD1 and CD1 porcine blood dendritic cells are enriched for the orthologues of the two major mammalian conventional subsets.

Conventional dendritic cells (cDC) are professional antigen-presenting cells that induce immune activation or tolerance. Two functionally specialised populations, termed cDC1 and cDC2, have been described in humans, mice, ruminants and recently in pigs. Pigs are an important biomedical model species and a key source of animal protein; therefore further understanding of their immune system will help underpin the development of disease prevention strategies. To characterise cDC populations in porcine blood, DC were enriched from PBMC by CD14 depletion and CD172a enrichment then stained with lineage mAbs (Lin; CD3, CD8α, CD14 and CD21) and mAbs specific for CD172a, CD1 and CD4. Two distinct porcine cDC subpopulations were FACSorted CD1 cDC (LinCD172 CD1CD4) and CD1 cDC (LinCD172a CD1 CD4), and characterised by phenotypic and functional analyses. CD1 cDC were distinct from CD1 cDC, expressing higher levels of CD172a, MHC class II and CD11b. Following TLR stimulation, CD1 cDC produced IL-8 and IL-10 while CD1 cDC secreted IFN-α, IL-12 and TNF-α. CD1 cDC were superior in stimulating allogeneic T cell responses and in cross-presenting viral antigens to CD8 T cells. Comparison of transcriptional profiles further suggested that the CD1 and CD1 populations were enriched for the orthologues of cDC1 and cDC2 subsets respectively.